34 M
American public servants depend on private equity to support their retirements
15 %
Median annualized return over a 10-year period for public pension funds (2021)
89 %
Public pension funds that invest in private equity
93 %
Public pension funds plan to increase their private equity allocations

Private Equity Outperforms All Other Investment Options

Even after fees, private equity generated an average annualized return of 15 percent in 2021. A recent study published by Cambridge Associates found that over the last decade, “institutions with higher private investment allocations experienced higher returns historically. And, those returns tended to be less volatile.”

More than 30 Million Public Servants Depend on Private Equity Returns

AIC President & CEO Drew Maloney and AIC Chair of the Board Pam Hendrickson recently discussed the results of the AIC’s Public Pension Report showing that private equity delivered the strongest returns for public pensions portfolios. “We all know that pension funds are struggling to meet their obligations around the country, and we have 30 million Americans that are dependent on these retirement benefits. You’ve got firefighters and policemen, you have teachers … janitors, cafeteria workers, bus drivers. All these people are dependent on these returns in order to have a comfortable retirement and for us being able to deliver year after year one of the best investment performances for private equity inside of a pension fund is really an amazing achievement.”